


Planetfall

by Whiskeyjack



Series: Wolves of Ranulfr [1]
Category: Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Battle report, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Space Wolves, Tau - Warhammer 40000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 03:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9366878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiskeyjack/pseuds/Whiskeyjack
Summary: Ranulfr leads his party of wolves and Grey Hunters to scout the site of an abandoned ruin. But the ruin is not quite so abandoned...





	

The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur. It stung Ranulfr’s nostrils with every breath he took, and breathing through his mouth was no help either, as the sensation would just sit in his throat instead of his nose. Beside him, his Grey Hunters padded along, and he could still trace their scent despite the environment. Ahead, a pack of Fenrisian wolves prowled, their claws picking easily across the rocky terrain.

He had been dispatched with a small force to investigate this planet, which until recently had been in the control of Hive Fleet Gorgon. Ragnar Blackmane himself had assigned him this task, and he couldn’t help but feel more than a little flattered that he had been given such an important assignment by the head of his Great Company. No doubt it was a sign that the Wolves would soon be committing a full assault to reclaim it, as Ragnar was well known for leading such campaigns. To think that his Lord would be utilizing his skills in such a manner caused his inner wolf to howl with delight.

They emerged from behind an outcrop of rocks to a ruin of what seemed to be a former outpost. The adornment on the crumbling walls and inactive artillery ahead of them was too old for Ranulfr to recognize, and most of the colour - if it had any - had been weathered away or faded. Beyond the two battlements lay a carved trench, the plasteel that was used to construct it long since having lost its structure, blocking their path across the ruins. Around the trench were curiously placed grates, rusted over with age. Ahead of them was a larger fortress, with walls still intact, and a huge cannon rising up from the parapets, dwarfing the ones around them.

He caught the whiff of something strange. Holding a fist up, he called his pack to a halt, sniffing the air and trying to catch a hint of it again. To his right, Skaegr Bloodmaw - the squad’s Lone Wolf - ventured forward a few steps, a Fenrisian wolf beside him, both their snouts in the air.

Skaegr was an old wolf, his whiskers so grey that Ranulfr couldn’t tell what colour they had been before. He hadn’t been given the specifics of Skaegr’s past, just what he had heard his brothers speak of over mjod - and Skaegr himself was not exactly forthcoming when it came to talking about it. From what he could tell, the lone wolf had carved a bloody and tattered trail through the enemies of the  _ Vlka Fenryka _ , enough to earn him a place within the Longclaws, or promoted to command of his own squad.

But when Skaegr had returned from a Great Hunt alone and piloting a xenos ship, his body barely holding together and totems from his brothers hanging from his neck, it was clear what his path forward was. The man had vowed to slay the creatures who had decimated his squad, and Ranulfr could only hope for his sake that his presence on this planet would help him achieve this goal.

The lone wolf whistled through his teeth, and the wolf by his side sprang forward, crouched low to the ground as it headed toward the collapsed trench. He turned to regard Ranulfr.

“It’s the Tau.” His face twisted into a snarl. “I can smell the stink of their machinery anywhere.”

The pack leader nodded, and tilted his head to the left, indicating to the Grey Hunters behind him to go around the battlements. Two of them disappeared from sight around the wall, leading two wolves ahead of them. On his right, the rest of his men and the remaining three wolves were lined up, prepared to face whatever was hiding in those ruins.

In the distance, his keen eyes picked out little red shapes emerging from behind the walls on the far side, the golden sheen of their stabilizers at the end of their gun barrels glinting in the orange sunlight. As they drew closer, Ranulfr could see them lining up in a firing line, ready to unleash a volley of pain upon his wolves.

He roared, and his Grey Hunters charged, following the lead of the three Fenrisian wolves loping ahead. They opened fire as soon as they came in range, their boltguns echoing a drumming report all around him. Regrettably, as much as their sharpened senses aided them in seeing long distances, the shots still flew wide, most of them glancing off the Tau’s armour.

They regrouped behind the collapsed walls of the trench, hoping to stay low enough to be out of line of sight of the Tau, but no such luck. One of the wolves had already been picked off in the charge, and it lay a few paces behind them, whimpering softly from a wound in its chest, the stench of burned flesh wafting in the air. Another wolf growled, and sprang forward from behind cover, seeking vengeance for, but quickly suffered the same fate as its packmate.

The two wolves he had sent in the flanking party had also been wounded in the advance, and the two Grey Hunters with them had no choice but to leave the beasts behind as they continued running forward. The intent was to have them push at the Tau from the side, using cover from the high walls of the forward battlement, but the initial charge left them open to fire just as much as Ranulfr’s main advance.

His men were crouched behind cover as best as they could, the Tau’s fire pinging off the plasteel in front of them. In his periphery, he saw one of his Grey Hunters on the left flank stumble, blood spraying from the side of his face as he fell to the ground. He gritted his teeth, his gut churning as he tried to find a way to salvage the situation.

“We've got to pull back!” Skaegr yelled, his voice a thin echo above the din of gunfire ahead of them. The sinking feeling intensified. If even Skaegr was counseling a retreat, then the situation was dire indeed.

“Fall back!” Ranulfr commanded over the vox-net. The Grey Hunter on the flank still standing hefted his brother over his shoulders, dragging him back from where they came. They had no way to retrieve the fallen wolves, so they just had to chance a return trip under cover of darkness, and hope that their wounds were not dire. His men headed back toward the abandoned artillery, some of them backpedaling to continue shooting at the xenos in a vain effort to try and get back at those sons of bitches.

Ranulfr held back, making sure all his men were safely out of sight before making his own retreat. The Tau were still shooting at the Space Wolves, but the fire had slowed down somewhat, and he was thankful that at least they had not decided to pursue them into the forest.

He turned, and heard his backpack issue a hiss of gas, indicating that a vent had been breached. He growled, his inner wolf flaring with anger, and he turned to fire a shot from his gun, but it was his undoing. A lucky shot struck him in the seam where bodysuit met plate, the burn from it stinging like a plasma bolt, and he could almost feel it searing his skin. His foot landed hard on a grate, and the rusty metal broke under his weight, sending him plummeting down.

The last thing he heard was the mournful howl of one of the Fenrisian wolves. 

**Author's Note:**

> This game was played on 11 Jan. Tau won this game.


End file.
